My Dentist's Daughter
by praesul femella
Summary: Dudley Dursley's mother thought he ought to have a girlfriend, so she invited over his dentist and her family...big mistake. NOTE: not HHr!


My Dentist's Daughter

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**_Disclaimer:_**  I do not own Harry Potter.

Dudley Dursley stared at the lime-green walls of the waiting room.  He had his annual dentist's appointment today, and he was not happy.  Dudley didn't like going to doctor's in the first place—they always told him he had to watch what he ate—but what made Dudley really upset, was that Harry was coming too.

            Harry had been nothing but a nuisance to Dudley since he had arrived home from _that school_ in June.  His nightly screams had changed from _"No! Cedric!"_ to _"Not Sirius!  He isn't dead!  I know he's not dead! Please don't be dead!"_  It constantly kept Dudley up at night.  The worst part of it was, Dudley couldn't even use this to get on Harry's nerves.  It was as if something was missing.  Harry's eyes were often hollow, and barely ever spoke.  Early on, when Dudley tried to tease Harry, he would walk away, or worse, stare at him with those piercing green eyes and ask him if he had ever lost a father.

            Dudley's father had to work today, and his mother refused to leave Harry alone in her house.  Petunia Dursley was convinced that her nephew would destroy it in some way.  So she dragged him along to keep an eye on him—not that it was needed.  When they entered the Doctor's Office, he immediately took a seat by a window and stared out at the cars passing by.

            "Dudley Dursley?"  Dudley looked up.  He actually had two doctors, a married couple.  They insisted that their patients call them Mr. And Mrs. G, rather than Dr. and Dr. G, so no one would get confused.  Dudley, didn't actually know their last name, he had always known them as the Drs. G.  Mrs. G was looking at Harry expectantly.  Apparently she thought that that Harry was he.  It had been awhile since they last went to the dentist, and Dudley normally had Mr. Dursley.  "Are you ready to get you check-up?"

            "Mrs. G?  I'm Dudley.  That's my cousin Harry."  Mrs. G smiled at him sweetly, "Alright then, why don't you head on in, I have to talk to your mother for a moment."  Dudley nodded and walked of the waiting room and sat in one of the large chairs by a sink where he would get his check-up.  Low voices were coming from the other room, and Dudley strained to hear.

            "—It's really not necessary.  He's just a nuisance."  Dudley could hear his mother say shrilly.  It obviously had something to do with Harry.  "But if he's never had a check-up before—" Mrs. G began.  So that was it.  Mrs. G wanted Harry to have a check-up as well.  _It isn't fair,_ Dudley thought.  _Harry has to have everything I do, and he gets it as well._  His mother was speaking now, "He has had a check-up.  At the Salvation Army station, where he belongs.  I won't pay for the boy to have perfect teeth."  There was some mumbling, and Dudley heard some mention "no charge" and a few minutes later, Harry, Petunia, and Mrs. G all shuffled in.  Mrs. G settled Harry into the chair beside Dudley as Mr. G walked in.

            "How's my favorite patient?"  Dudley smiled sheepishly and mumbled that he was fine.  "Well that's good.  My, you've grown so much since I've seen you last.  It really has been too long."  Mr. G put a movie in the VCR of the TV hanging from the ceiling, and soon he was working away in Dudley's mouth as Dudley pretended to watch _The Lion King_.  He was really listening to Mrs. G's conversation with Harry.

            "So, how old are Harry?"  Harry mumbled something through her fingers, and Dudley assumed that Mrs. G had enough experience with dentistry to understand what he had said, because she said, "Really?  My daughter is turning sixteen this September.  She goes to a boarding school somewhere in Scotland, so I won't be able to be with her when she celebrates her Sweet Sixteen.  I always wished I could have a huge party for her, it's too bad, really."

            Dudley groaned.  Why did she have to say she had a sixteen-year-old daughter?   His parents had met at sixteen, and Dudley's mother had gotten it into her head that Dudley should have met the woman he would marry by now as well.  Sure enough, minutes later, Petunia was asking the Mrs. G and her family over for dinner that night.  When they left about a quarter of an hour later, Harry was too busy staring at his feet to notice the bushy-haired girl who entered as they exited.   Dudley did though, and he knew she must have been Mrs. G's daughter, because she hugged Mr. G upon seeing him, and gave Mrs. G a kiss on the cheek.  Dudley hoped she would tame her hair for that night, as his mother would frown upon the state of her hair.

            Dusk found Dudley standing by the door in khaki pants and a blue button-down shirt that his mother had picked out for him to wear.  Dudley had slicked his hair to the side, and when Harry saw him, he mentioned something about looking like "a great bouncing ferret."  Dudley had no idea how he looked like a ferret, in fact, he wasn't even sure he _knew_ what a ferret _was_, but he didn't care.  Harry would be in his room all night.  Surprisingly, it had been Harry's idea, and Dudley's father, though suspicious, didn't object.  They were going to say that Harry wasn't feeling well.

            Dudley opened the door almost as soon as it rang.  His mother had assigned him that task to keep him out of the food.  Mr. and Mrs. G, as well as the girl he had seen at the doctor's office greeted him.  Her hair, though it was still bushy, was in a braid, and Dudley assumed that it would be enough to satisfy his mother.  As they stepped inside, Dudley's parents joined them in the sitting room, and introductions were made.  "Hermione, these are the Dursleys, and their son Dudley.  Dudley, this is my daughter Hermione."  Dudley forced a grin.  _What a weird name,_ he thought.   

            "You have a lovely home, Mrs. Dursley."  Hermione had seemed shocked upon hearing their names, but recovered well.  Dudley knew his mother would like Hermione as soon as she complimented her.  Soon they were discussing various topics.  Dudley noticed Hermione was very intelligent, and joined in with the adults' conversations.  He nodded a lot as if he understood, and constantly had a drink or a biscuit in his mouth, so he wouldn't appear stupid.  When Mrs. G asked where their nephew was, she seemed to readily accept their excuse for his absence.  Hermione didn't look convinced, and when dinner rolled around, Dudley noticed she purposely waited until someone had gone into the downstairs bathroom, before asking where it was, so she had to use the one upstairs.  Soon after she left, there was a yell, a thud, and a shriek.  Then it went silent.  Petunia and Vernon exchanged wary looks, and Dudley assumed the Drs. G had not heard the commotion because they seem unperturbed.  

            Five minutes later, Hermione appeared in the dining room, looking highly frazzled.  Her braid had come undone, and hair was spilling everywhere.  She gave the impression that she had just run a fifty-meter dash, as she was breathing heavily and her cheeks were flushed.  Mr. G was by her side almost immediately.  "Hermione!  Are you alright?"  She nodded and leaned over to catch her breath, "I am, but Harry's not."  _How does she know his name?_ Dudley thought as his father stood up.  "Did he do something to you?" 

            "No!"  Hermione shook her head, "He—he was sleeping, and he had another vision.  Mum, you know what I'm talking about!"  A look of comprehension dawned on Mrs. G's face and she too stood up.  "Will someone explain what's going on here?"  Vernon bellowed.  Hermione squared her shoulders and looked Vernon straight in the eye, "Of course.  I'm a witch.  I go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Harry Potter is one of my best friends."  Dudley's father's face had gone from red to white back to red, and his mother went very pale, and she shakily stood up.  "You—you're—you're one of _them!_"  She glared at the Hermione's parents.

            "That's right. I'm one of '_them_' as you so kindly put it, but my parents are not.  Now before you threaten my family and I, I need to owl my Headmaster, and make sure Harry is alright."  She stalked out, and the room went eerily quiet.  "So…what's wrong with Harry?"  Dudley asked.  He was still confused about the whole situation.  "Hermione told me what's going on, horrible really.  Harry's scar is connected to the man who killed his parents—Moldy Wart was his name, I think—and sometimes he has these—er—_dreams_ of what the man is doing, as if he were in the same room.  The thing is, these dreams are _real_, and every time he gets a searing pain in his scar.  Hermione says it hurts even more when Moldy Wart casts one of the Unforgivable Curses.  I don't really know what they are, but it kind of speaks for itself—"

            "_Enough!_"  Dudley jumped in surprise at his father's voice.  "I won't have any more talk of that—that _unnaturalness_ in my home!  I want you out—" Vernon stopped suddenly, and stared at his wife, whose breath was coming out in short gasps.  "_Avada Kedavra._"  Everyone stared at her.  "That's one of them.  That's the one that killed _her._  It—it said that in the letter that came with the boy."  She fell back into her chair.  "They—they tortured my parents with another one.  She—she said it was called the Cruciatus Curse.  That it—it drove some people insane.  She said she'd been under it before, that it felt like every inch of you was in unbearable pain all over."  Dudley stared at his mother.  She _never_ talked about her sister.  Except that one time back when Harry got his letter and that time last year after the Dementor attack.  But Dudley felt so cold then he barely remembered it.  

            "Harry's been under that curse.  Twice, I think.  Hermione said people who use it are sent to the wizard prison.  It sounds horrible, and now that Moldy Wart's back, my family is in danger.  Not only because Hermione is—er, what was it?  Oh yes—_muggle-born_, but also because she's Harry's friend."  No one talked after that.  Petunia was hyperventilating and Vernon was trying to calm her down.  Mr. And Mrs. G had sat back down, and seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation.  No one noticed when Dudley got up and made his way to Harry's bedroom.

            Hermione had placed a damp towel on Harry's forehead, and she was sitting watching him, waiting for him to stir.  Dudley noticed that Harry's owl was gone.  "Is there anything I can do to help?"  Hermione looked up in surprise.  She shook her head after a moment and moved to pull the covers up over Harry.  Dudley walked into the small room and sat on the floor beside the bed, "Do—do you know what he saw?"  She sat back down at the foot of the mattress.

            "No, but when I found him, he was mumbling something about an attack on a school.  I think he said it was called Smelly's or something."  Dudley's eyes widened, "Smeltings?"  When Hermione nodded, he gasped, "That—that's _my _school.  I—I don't go there during the summer session.  Mum likes me to come home every summer."  Hermione looked at him sideways, "Why are you here?"  Dudley shrugged, "He saved my life last year, as much as I don't like him, I suppose I should help."  Before Hermione could answer, Harry's owl appeared in the window with a letter attached to her leg.  Hermione scanned the parchment before going downstairs.  

            Dudley watched his cousin for a moment before standing up and heading towards the hall.  Just as he reached the door, he heard a rustling behind him, and whirled around to see Harry staring at him.   "What do _you_ want?"  He asked snidely, suddenly upset at himself for offering to help his cousin before.  _You don't help someone you hate!_ He scolded himself silently.  Harry's expression remained impassive, so Dudley left.  As he closed the door, he heard Harry whisper, "Thanks for caring, Dud.  I'm sorry about your school."  Perhaps it was the sincerity in Harry's voice that made him close his eyes and lean against the wall outside of his cousin's room.  _I was rude to him, and he still apologizes!_

            As he passed by Harry's room to get to his own, he peeked in and saw his mother softly cooing him to sleep.  Dudley knew his father wouldn't change, but he realized that what his family had found out that night would surely change his mother, and possibly even himself.  Perhaps he didn't hate Harry after all.  Maybe, with some time, he could even grow to like him, and maybe, just _maybe_ he could he even begin to love Harry the way he should have been loved when he first arrived on their doorstep so many years before.

**A/N:  I'd like to thank all of you who reviewed my latest fic: Jaquelyne, Luna Lovegood 2, BubblyFizz03, v-weasley, Wedgie Antilles.  I'd also like to restate that this fic is not a Harry/Hermione fic.  Hermione is simply being a good friend and taking care of Harry in his time of need.  For those of you who are wondering, this is a one-chapter fic, as is Adulescens Agnosco.  I am working on a longer fir, however my computer deleted all the chapters and I had to rewrite, but it had been awhile since I worked on it, so it came out totally differently and now I have a bad case of writers block.**

PLEASE REVIEW…*NO FLAMES*…CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM OKAY 


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